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Hi,
first off all I just want to congratulate you on your new album.
To new fans could your please fill us in on the history behind it
all?
Anoxia -
Thank you! 2006 actually happens to be anniversary-year in the
AnoxiA-tale. Lars and Søren formed the first incarnation of the
band, under a different name, though, back in ’96. The music
then was more straight-ahead punky hard rock, but the
transformation into AnoxiA, and the evolution of our current style
kicked off around 2000. The first taste of this was the 2000-demo
“Far from this time”. Following, through the years was a lot
of gigging, line-up-changes, the 2003-release “Melanchollision”,
more gigging and then, finally; our new 6-tracker; the “Kept in
Sin”-release. The line-up on this promo has been together since
July 2004, and is, beyond any doubt, the strongest and most
unified in the band’s history. We are: Lars: Guitar/Vox, Søren:
Drums, Allan: Bass and Claus: Guitar.
Who has produced and mixed the album? Are you pleased with the
result?
Anoxia
- As usual we recorded the raw music at Muzirkus/Nyborg
controlled by Henrik Johannessen. This time we wished to add a new
dimension to the sound and since we were all pleased with the work
of Tommy Hansen/Jailhouse, he was the natural choice for the
mixing process. We truly feel that sonically this is our most
solid-cast and successful effort so far, since we ended up
achieving the in-your-face-sound on the album that was our initial
ambition. And not to forget the visual part of “Kept in Sin”
we must remember to express our greatest satisfaction with the
work. We wanted beside of the music to keep a focus on the band
and present how we are. Laura Kiralfy followed us the whole summer
recording all the stuffs you can find on the disc and we are
pleased with the result!
How
did you get your name Anoxia?
Anoxia - An
often asked question, but rarely properly answered…!
“AnoxiA” sounds metal. It’s short and accurate. With a name
like that, we won’t be mistaken for a pop-band. In addition the
double-A-combination in the word provides some graphical
possibilities, which we also take advantage of.
In
what words would you describe the music and moods of Anoxia for someone that has not heard you yet?
Anoxia -
As most other bands, we hate labelling our music, but obviously it
is a sort of melodic thrash-metal. By combining the rawness and
aggression of extreme styles with the melody and feel of more
traditional hard rock and metal, we try our best to create a
unique brand, which comprises the special Anoxia-mood.
Which bands from then and from nowadays have their influence on
Anoxia?
Anoxia
- Well, Hard to tell! Our inspiration comes from all corners
of the musical universe. It would be impossible to mention
specific bands since we are four individual metal fans with
different preferences! As a matter of fact, what we listen to is
not necessarily the same stuff that inspires us.
What
influences you when writing songs and in what way are songs made
within Anoxia?
Anoxia
- Usually someone brings an idea to our dungeon and if the
jury accepts the idea or riff we basically jam around it, fight
around it, add our individual fingerprints and eventually a track
is born. In the song creation process we consider the “Ultimate
Killer Song” as the goal and our work goes in that direction.
Are
lyrics written prior to a song or are they written to fit the
music?
Anoxia
- He he it’s a 50/50 deal! Most of the time we make the
music at first and then the lyrics are added. Lars is almost
responsible for the lyrics and the contents in the songs of AnoxiA
vary a lot. Everything from stories, moods and thoughts delivers
the perfect inspiration for the vocal work in the band. The lyrics
are always unique and are usually made to fit the moods in the
songs.
Which
song do you consider to be the best one you have ever written?
Anoxia -
Well, we are four guys, having our individual favourite tunes.
Usually the newer the song, the greater the excitement, which is
probably a healthy tendency too, since a newer song is more likely
to represent the current state of the band, which is ideally the
best ever! In fact all of us (coincidentally enough!) happens to
have our all-time Anoxia-favourites on the new album: Søren and
Allan: “Last Situation”, Lars: “All And Everything”,
Claus: “m/s Relationship”.
Do
you feel that you sound will evolve in some different direction,
in the future, or you will still follow the same path?
Anoxia
- We have set a path for the music, which we are all pleased
with and thus will follow. Surely our music will develop within
these frames, but always without deviating from our main concept.
We kind of invented our own style, which we are proud of and wish
to stay true to. We all agree that following trends and currents
equals whimp-out! We do what we do, and by keeping on doing that,
we (hopefully!) get better and better at that, instead of
continuously changing our style to fit whatever’s in fashion at
the moment.
Do you have any touring plans?
Anoxia
- Yes indeed, we have a couple of package shows throughout
Denmark
with a few other bands (e.g. Mindmare and Third Eye from our
hometown) coming up during the spring. So far the dates count:
Feb.
11th -
Copenhagen
(The Rock)
Mar. 3rd - Herning (Imperiet)
Apr. 14th -
Kolding
(Pitstop)
May 13th -
Odense
(Badstuen)
Jun 23rd - Ringe (Midtfyns Festival)
Always keep an eye on the gig-guide at
www.anoxia.dk.
Let's
speculate - you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your
own choice - who would be your ideal touring partners?
Anoxia
- Hmm, this is where you expect us to answer Metallica or
Maiden, right?! Well, in fact supporting Spinal Tap would be more
like a dream come true for us, ha-ha! No, seriously, our upcoming
tour with Mindmare (melodic death metal) and Third Eye (prog.
metal) we consider a great package. Here we’ve got 3 pretty
skilled bands, in 3 different musical categories on one bill.
Since we are all unsigned bands, we are probably dealing with very
reasonable cover charges at the venues as well, so it’s a great
chance for people to come and see a diverse and kicking
metal-show!
The
internet is a very important source for many metal fans - how do
you use the internet and how important is it for you and other
bands?
Anoxia
- The web is a really important tool for metal fans as well as
bands nowadays. For underground bands as well as fans it is a much
more convenient equivalent of the tape-trading-scene of the
80’es and 90’es. We have definitely gained a lot of attention
and feedback through the web, and the situation is the same for
most other bands. Today, when forming a band, the first thing you
do is literally designing a web-site!
Every
band wants to become famous, touring etc. But what would you
absolutely not do with Anoxia
or you don't want to reach with the band?
Anoxia -
Hmm, male groupies seem to be the absolute terror-vision of the
AnoxiA future, hahaha!
One
thing we will never do is to compromise in our music! Like said
before we never follow any trend and we could never imagine going
to our dungeon with the thought of changing the music into some
more mainstream friendly music! The one of us that would ever dare
to come and suggest that in the dungeon would be beaten up he he!
Last
thing, Never EVER hire Bob Rock as additional musician!!
Can you finish this sentence: In five year Anoxia will be.?
Anoxia
- Six years older….Oh, no, wait a minute; make that five! No
seriously we will still be rocking, touring and have made several
more records! AnoxiA is an institution with room for our
seriousness concerning the music, but indeed also a whole lot of
Party N’ Roll, Drunken Nights and Bar Humour. This combination
seems to be essential for all of us and why ever thank no to that?
How
do you feel about the metal scene in general at the moment?
Anoxia -
The focus on metal as a general is pretty good at the moment.
Compared to just five years ago when metal and rock had literally
no airplay at all. We all in the band are however not too pleased
with the commercial acts of today’s scene (no names mentioned…),
but on the other hand they get the kids to buy the albums, and
ideally the kids get hooked, wanting to progress on to more
interesting stuff, such as, well; “real” metal….! The metal
universe has never been this diverse before, never have there been
so many different styles, and of course that is healthy for the
scene.
Which
albums do you listen to the most at the moment and why these
albums?
Anoxia
- Again; we are four individual metal fans, as accurate as
possible we have compiled our current top 5’s or classics he he:
Allan:
- Dream
Theater – All albums
- AC/DC
– All albums
- Spiritual
Beggars – Deamons…
- Iron
Maiden – All Albums
- Arch
Enemy – Doomsday Machine
Claus:
- Queensrÿche
- Operation: Mindcrime
- Trivium – Ascendancy
- Brainstorm
- Metus Mortis
- Arch
Enemy - Anthems of Rebellion
- Dokken
- Beast from the East
What are you doing besides Anoxia,
job wise as well as hobbies?
Anoxia
- No names mentioned; Anoxia counts two engineers, one cop and
a carpenter… Hobbies?!? Anoxia of course!! We all have fetishes
concerning our instruments and gear so it is always a hot topic in
the dungeon. There is always something to fix or repair to keep
the metal machine running!!!
I thank you very much for participating in this interview and
sharing this information and your thoughts with us - these last
lines are entirely for you. Any final words you would like to
round off with?
Anoxia -
We strongly encourage all readers of powermetal.dk to come and see
our upcoming shows. We haven’t been on the road for a couple of
months, so we are anxious and ready to kick some serious ass!!
Also go to www.anoxia.dk
and check out the sound clips from our album, see if you like it,
and, of course; get it! Otherwise go to www.mymusic.dk
and listen to the entire album. In general; support the
underground!
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